Porch curtain



Dec; 23, 1930. a. A. PHINN r PORCH CURTAIN Criginal Filed Jan. 12, 192

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Patented Dec. 23, 1930 I i i UNITED" STA E -PATENT oFFlCE .VGEOBGE A. PHINN, OF PnsaDE a-cA IronmA roncrr cun'ram Application filed January 12, 1926, Serial No. 80,790. Renewed October 10, 1928.

My invention relates generally to roller curtains and 'more particularly to a curtain for screened sleeping porches, the principal objects of my invention being to generally improve upon and simplify the construction of the existing forms of porch curtains, to provide a roller curtain that may be very readily manipulated and adjusted so as to wholly or partially cover'the opening to which it is applied, and further, to provide a porch curtain that may be easily and cheaply produced and installed.

A further object of my invention is to provide simple and efficient means that cooperate readily with the'curtain and which will be eifective in very firmly holding the curtain against the structure to which it is applied and thereby prevent said curtain from being unduly vibrated as a result of air draftsor wind.

The structure forming the subject matter of this application is an improvement upon a somewhat similar structure disclosed in an application for U. S. Letters Patent filed by me March 28, 1924, Serial No. 702,663, and this application is a continuation in part of my application aforesaid.

With the foregoing and other objects in View, my invention consists in certain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts that will hereinafter be more fully .described and claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which- Fig. l'is an elevationalview of a porch curtain constructed'in accordance with my invention. V

Fig. 2 is a vertical cross section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged horizontal section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2..

Fig. 4 is an elevational view of the curtaincarrying roller.

Fig. 5 is a front elevational view of a modified form of my improved porch curtain;

Fig. 6 is a vertical cross section taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

Referring by numerals to the accompany ing drawing which illustratesa practical embodiment of my invention, 10 designates a frame that surrounds an opening 11 in the wall vof aporch or building and whichopenpreferably formed of wood or of sheet metal bent into tubular form. heightand width of the section of fabric Obviously the forming the curtain is sufficient to wholly close the opening 13 when the roller is raised to its upper limit of movement.

Spools or winding drums are formed on the ends of the curtain .roller 14 by arranging .on said ends pairs .of disks 15, the same being suitably spaced apart and their marginal edges provided with rounded flanges 16 that project toward each other. These rounded inner edges of the disks 15 prevent the cords .or cables that wind on the roller between the disks 15 from .climbing or winding up over the edges of the disks while the curtain is being raised or lowered.

Seated in one or bothends of the curtain roller is an axiallydisposedpin 17 and loosely arranged on the end thereofthat projects beyond the corresponding disk 15 is a disk tion.

Secured to the outer face of disk 18 and to the outer face ofthe outer one of the disks 15 on the opposite end of the roller, are small outwardly projecting L-shaped brackets 21 that project into the channel members 12 and normally bear against the inner faces of the flanges thereon, thus retaining the ends of the curtain-carrying roller in proper position and guiding the ends of said roller during its vertical movement.

Secured to the end portions of roller 14 between the disks 15 and adapted to wind onto said roller in a direction opposite to the direction in which the curtain 13 winds onto said roller, are roller supporting cords or cables 22 which pass upward over pulleys 23 that are arranged at the top of the frame 10.

The free ends of the cords or cables 22 are secured to yielding means 24, which main tain them, the curtain roller and the curtain in tension at all times so that the curtain is always taut." V

The ends of the cords or cables 25 that are utilized for raising'and lowering the curtain roller are disposed on the inside of the frame 10 and said ends are connected to a suitable ring or handle 26. These cords pass through an opening in the central portion of the upper rail of frame 10, around pulleys 27 that are located on the outer face of said upper rail and from said pulleys the cords extend outwardly away from each other around pulleys 28 that are located at the upper corners of frame 10 and from said last-mentioned pulleys the cords pass downward and they are arranged to wind onto the roller between the folds or layers of the curtain at points adjacent to the ends of said roller. These cords wind onto the curtain roller in the same direction that the curtain 13 winds thereonto and the ends of said cords are secured to said roller or to the curtain adjacent to its inner or upper edge. 1

In the manipulation of this form of porch curtain, the ends of the cords 25 within the porch or building structure are engaged and pulled downwardly when it is desired to unroll and raise the curtain, and as said cords are drawn downward, those portions of the cords that are connected to and wound upon the curtain-carrying roller between the folds of the curtain will be drawn upwardly and unwound from the roller thus elevating said roller and correspondingly drawing the curtain upwardly to close the opening 11. During this upward travel of the roller and the unwinding of the curtain therefrom, the depending portion of the supporting cords 22 will wind onto the spools or drums formed between the disks 15 inasmuch as said cords 22 wind onto their drums as the cords 25 unwind from the roller, and vice versa.

During the raising of the curtain roller as just described, disk 18 will be held against rotation by the engagement of its bracket 21 against the flange of the channel 12 and pawls 20 will be carried around said disk 18 until the curtain roller is brought to a stop, whereupon one of said pawls will engage in one of the notches 19, thus effectually locking the roller against rotary movement after the manner of the well-known window shade rollers.

To lower the curtain it is only necessary to exert suflicient pull upon the cords 25 to slightly raise the roller, thus freeing the engaged pawl 20 and the weight of the cu rtain-carrying roller will cause the same to move downward, thereby winding the curtain and the operating cords 25 onto said roller and unwinding the cords 22 from their drums or spools. Obviously by proper manipulation of the cords 25 the curtaincarrying roller may be stopped at any elevation and locked in such position by the engagement of one ofthe pawls 20 in one of the notches 19 in disk 18.

Inasmuch as the brackets 21 engage the outer flanges of the guideways 12, the roller will be at all times retained in proper position and prevented from vibrating and rattling as a result of air drafts or wind and as the side edges of the curtain are positioned immediately adjacent to the flanged guideways 12, the tendency of the wind to blow behind the curtain is minimized.

In the modified form of the device illus trated in Figs. 5 and 6 the roller raising and lowering cord 30 that winds onto the roller between the folds of the curtain passes upwardly over pulleys 31 at the top of the Win dow frame and thence down *ardly inside the frame to the lower portion thereof where it is secured to a loop or eyelet In this modified structure, the channel members 12 are dispensed with and the curtain-carrying roller is held against undue vibration by a cord or cable 33, one end of which is secured to an eyelet 34 on the outer face of the lower portion of the frame or building structure and said cord passes up wardly outside the curtain roller, thence around pulleys 35 that are located at the top of the frame adjacent to the pulleys 31, and from said pulleys 35 the cord passes downwardly around the lower or inner portion of a short lever-like arm 36, the latter being pivotally mounted on a bracket 37 that projects from the inner face of a portion of the window or porch frame.

The upper or outer end of arm 36 carries a cleat 38 around which the cord 30 may be given a few turns when it is desired to secure said cord and hold the curtain roller at the desired elevation.

In this form of device the inner portion of cord 30 is manually engaged and manipulated so as to raise or lower the curtain-carrying roller, wnich movements are accomplished while the arm 36 is swung downward into the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 6, and when the arm is thus positioned, the cord 33 is released. or sufficiently slackened to permit the curtain-carryi n g roller to move freely in either direction.

When the curtain roller has been raised or lowered to the desired position, arm 36 is swung upwardly and inwardly to the position shown by solid lines in Fig. 6, thereby taking up the slack in cord 33 and said arm is secured in its elevated position and the operating cord 30 is made fast by passing said cord two or three times around cleat 38. Thus the cord 30 functions as a means for raising or lowering the curtain-carrying roller and the cord 33 securely holds the roller against the outer face of the porch frame or building structure and prevents said roller from vibrating and rattling.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided a porch curtain that is relatively simple in,

construction, capable of being easily and cheaply produced and which is very efiective in performing its intended functions.

The curtain-carrying roller isyieldingly suspended, thereby permitting it to be freely raised or lowered without binding and when said roller has been raised or lowered to the desired point, it may be readily locked or secured in such position and held against undue vibration and rattling.

It will be understood that minor changes in the size, form and construction of the various parts of my improved porch curtain may be made and substituted for those herein shown and described without departing from the spirit of my invention, the scope of which is set forth in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention;

1. In a device of the character described, a curtain member, a pole on which the curtain is rolled, pulleys on the ends of the pole, pulleys supported above the curtain, flexible members secured to the first mentioned pulleys and adapted to be wound thereon, said flexible members adapted to pass over said second mentioned pulleys, yielding means connecting with the ends of said flexible members to hold the curtain in tension, and a flexible operating member having one end secured to the pole and adapted to be wound around the curtain on the pole in a direction reverse to the winding of said first mentioned flexible members on their pulleys.

2. In a device of'the character disclosed, a curtain, a pole on which the curtain is rolled, pulleys on the ends of the pole, pulleys supported above the curtain, flexible members secured to the first mentioned pulleys and adapted to be'wound thereon, said flexible members passing over said second mentioned pulleys, yielding means connecting with the ends of said flexible members to hold the curtain in tension, a flexible operating member having one end secured to the pole and adapted to be Wound around the curtain on the pole in a direction reverse to the winding of said first mentioned flexible members on their pulleys, and a flexible means to hold the curtain pole against vibration.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

GEORGE A. PHINN. 

